Netanyahu U.S. Visit Well-Received in Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's popularity at home
has surged since his address to a joint session of the U.S.
Congress, in which he said: "Israel will not return to the
indefensible lines of 1967."

A
poll published five weeks ago showed that 53% of Israeli's
were disappointed with Netanyahu's leadership.

A new poll, conducted by the Dialog Institute however showed a
surge in support. Here is the breakdown via
Haaretz:

47% of the Israeli public thought the visit was a success
compared with 10% that viewed it as a failure.

Nearly 50% of the public felt "pride" at seeing Netanyahu's
address and 5% percent thought it was a "missed opportunity."

27% said they expect U.S.-Israel relations to improve, while
13% expected relations to deteriorate. Almost 50% thought
relations would remain unchanged.

During his address to Congress, Netanyahu received 26 standing
ovations. He hammered home the point, "Israel has no better
friend than America. And America has no better friend than
Israel." Yet Netanyahu's one-on-one interaction with President
Obama was strained.

At a joint press conference, President Obama barely made eye
contact with Netanyahu as he spoke, while Netanyahu addressed the
President directly. At the time, President Obama said (via
ABC News): "Obviously there are some differences between us.
The precise formulations and language, and that's going to happen
between friends."

The public thus seems to be turning a deaf ear to the many
political and diplomatic analysts who criticized the prime
minister's address to Congress and who said it proved that
Netanyahu was not capable of pulling the negotiations with the
Palestinians out of the dangerous mire they are in.

The public also seems to have dismissed the learned warnings that
Netanyahu had generated an unnecessary confrontation with Obama,
for which Israel is liable to pay a high price down the line.
Apparently average Israelis - from the right, the center, and
even from some parts of the left - are welcoming Netanyahu back
to Israel with open arms.

Despite all the tension in Washington this past week, Israelis
generally don't believe that Obama is hostile to Israel.

Asked their opinion of Obama, who tussled with Netanyahu late
last week and also stung him a bit during his speech to the AIPAC
annual conference on Sunday, 43 percent of those polled described
him as "businesslike," while a quarter described him as friendly
and only 20 percent saw him as hostile.